Tarzan: Abuse of incumbency claims against Mahama flawed

Suspended member of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Charles Wereko-Brobby, has lambasted critics of President John Mahama’s ‘Accounting to the People tour’ saying allegations of abuse of incumbency against the government are misplaced.

According to him, the President is not breaching any law by embarking on the tour since there are no regulations governing such activities.

President Mahama, who is currently embarking on a tour of the ten regions dubbed the ‘Accounting to the People’ tour, has been heavily criticized especially by the NPP who accuse him of abusing his incumbency ahead of the elections in November.

But sharing his opinion on the matter, Dr. Wereko-Brobby, who is also a Chief Policy Analyst at the Ghana Institute of Policy Options (GIPPO), said the critics were being too critical adding that previous Presidents are guilty of same.

“I’ve been part of every single election of the 4th Republic and every single president has found the need to justify why their mandates should be extended. Jerry John Rawlings did it in 1995, President Kufuor did it in 2004 and the late Mills did it in 2012 when he was going round and cutting sods.”

“When people are in opposition, they see every action of the incumbent as tantamount of gaining undue advantage but when they get into power they forget that the rules of engagement have to be very tight so that they do not suffer unduly from abuse of incumbency,” he added.

The policy analyst further noted that he was part of the drafters of ex-President Kufuors “So far so good” brochure and mantra in 2004, which he said was produced with state funds.

According to him, the only difference in such exercises were the names given to it by the respective Presidents. He said if the state wants to put the matter to rest, then an effort must be made to regulate it going forward.

“We have to have rules of engagement and people now in opposition are saying that we should have rules on what the president can do and cannot do.

we don’ t have laws and the absence of laws create the opportunity for people in power to abuse it. I happen to have been one of the drafters of so far so very good in 2004 which was also produced using state funds.

I remember the NDC protested vehemently against that particular document. Now the NPP is shouting.

But the very sensible view that is emerging is that, there should be laws and proper rules of engagement,” he added.